It is not correct to rely only on the state in fight against corruption. The society must be proactive and intolerant against it.
The systematic knowledge in the sphere of fight against corruption is necessary. The Armenian Young Lawyers Association and Freedom of Information Center have organized a three-day anti-corruption training for CSOs and media in Yerevan in the framework of the European Union funded “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” project. This is the third seminar, which is organized in Yerevan․
“We attach much importance to this trainings, as we believe that the civil society organizations should be involved in fight against corruption, and we shall not be able to record success if the CSOs are passive in this matter,” Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Young Lawyers Association, “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” Project Manager said.
The schedule of the three-day training includes principles of good governance, information about the notion of corruption, history of its development and reasons for its occurrences, etc.
The participants got acquainted to the notion of ant-corruption public monitoring, methodology and international practice. They also discussed the aspects and issues of the RA Government Program, Strategic Program of the RA Legal and Judicial Reforms 2012-2016; international experience and mechanisms of creating anti-corruption coalitions.
The training program includes the journalistic investigation procedure and specifics, and the mechanisms and sources to obtain information as well.
“In my opinion and according to our studies, I cannot say that the fight against corruption in Armenia is effective, as there is no intolerance against this phenomenon among the public, as well as negative attitude of the state against it,” Varduhi Aghabekyan, representative of «Conceive Your Rights» NGO Varduhi Aghabekyan said․
“Despite everything, it is possible to curb corruption to some extent even in such conditions in Armenia,” considers Arpine Karapetyan from International Center for Human Development.
“I think some steps are being undertaken, however it is avery complex mechanism. But some steps however, are made,” Gayane Poghosyan, Director of “Foundation for Small and Medium Businesses” NGO mentioned.
CSO and Media Organizations, who have completed the training successfully, will have opportunity to participate in the tender for small grants to undertake monitoring, watchdog activities and journalistic investigations.
You can see the list of CSOs and the media participants of the Anti-Corruption Training here.
